Gen Z's Trust in State Pension Declines, Private Savings Preferred
A new study reveals that only half of Germany's Gen Z expects a state pension, with a majority favoring private retirement savings despite varied awareness of new government schemes.
Frankfurt am Main – Trust in the German state pension system among the "Gen Z" generation has further eroded, with only 49 percent of young adults now expecting to receive it, down from 56 percent in 2025, according to a representative survey by forsa commissioned by ING Deutschland and Visa.
Despite this declining confidence, 79 percent of young adults worry about poverty in old age. The newly proposed "Altersvorsorge-Depot" (retirement savings account), set to launch in 2027 with state subsidies, is viewed favorably by 65 percent of this demographic. However, awareness remains uneven, with two-thirds of young men familiar with the scheme compared to only half of young women.
Analysis of ING Deutschland's customer data shows a clear trend towards private investment for retirement. Nearly half (47 percent) of young investment customers regularly save through securities savings plans, averaging approximately €365 per month. A significant 90 percent of these contributions are directed into exchange-traded index funds (ETFs), which are a dominant force in wealth building among this age group.
"Private retirement provision will only be successful if people actually take action. Our task is to make this step as easy as possible for them," stated Lars Stoy, CEO of ING Deutschland. "The analysis shows that Gen Z is taking its financial future into its own hands, saving regularly, investing long-term, and primarily using broadly diversified ETFs."
The data further indicates that young ING customers predominantly hold broad-based ETFs, and their average portfolio value has grown from €14,600 to €17,800 over the past year. This generation demonstrates resilience, with minimal changes in trading behavior observed even during recent periods of market volatility.